'Tis the Season

Hey all!  Come check out the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra performing the Nutcracker this weekend at LaSalle-Peru Highschool.  Saturday at 4 pm and Sunday at 3 pm.  Should be fun!

Calendar Update

Interesting Oboe Fact

Famous Oboist From our Past!

Ludwig August Lebrun, born May 2, 1752 and died December 16, 1790, was a Mannheim, Germany born oboist and composer.  He started playing with the orchestra at the court of Prince-Electro Carl Theodor in Mannheim at the age of 12 and was a full member by the time he was 15.  Lebrun was a contemporary of Carl Stamitz and Anton Stamitz, and belonged to the Mannheim school.  He married a well known soprano, Fraziska Danzi, and they perfromed frequently together.  Many pieces were written for the two musicians.  Charles Burney comments on their playing "Franziska Danzi and the excellent oboist Lebrun usually travel together, and it seems as though she has listened to nothing other than his instrument, for when they perform together in thirds and sixths one cannot hear which is the upper or the lower voice!"

*Information courtesy of Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_August_Lebrun (accessed 7/29/2013).

Upcoming Events: July 27

July 27 -  Morton Gould: An AMERICAN SALUTE

Saturday 8 PM
Wheaton College Edman Chapel : 501 College Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
FREE Admission, no tickets required.

We celebrate the centennial of the birth of legendary American composer and conductor Morton Gould with many of his favorite audience pleasers. Special guest Abby G. Burton joins us for stories of her father’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his induction as one of the Kennedy Center Honorees, and his friendship with Benny Goodman (and other musical celebrities of the day)! MSgt Jay Niepoetter, United States Marine Band and alumnus of the Wheaton Municipal Band, joins us as special clarinet soloist.

This is a free event!  I'd love to see you there!

Recapitulation

The past couple of weeks have been crazy.  I did a piano festival in Rockford, IL featuring a traditional piano forte.  I performed with a small chamber group two Mozart Piano Concertos.  It was a lovely time and the piano was amazing.  Also this past week was the fourth of July!  The Wheaton Municipal Band performed on Tuesday night for our holiday Independence Day Concert with guest conductor Lieutenant Commander Lorelei Conrad.  She was a joy and programmed a great concert that was fun to play and fabulous to hear!  I then marched in the Wheaton July 4th Parade.  Oiy!  Me and an alto saxaphone marched for an hour playing Sousa marches.  Oboe and Alto Sax fingers are close, but not close enough that I played well. 

Calendar

Concert Tomorrow

Concert Tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Thursday, June 13) I will be performing with the Wheaton Municipal Band at 8 PM, Memorial Park (Wheaton IL)

Please join for FREE for a night under the stars and listening to some great band music including Verdi and Wagner!

Recapitulation: June 6th

My first concert this season with the Wheaton Municipal Band this past Thursday, June 6th, was a great success.  The band emphatically opened the season with guest Wheaton middle school student musicians joining the ranks!  The temperatures were a bit chilly (understatement!) but we mustered through.  Yes I was wearing as many layers under my classic Wheaton blue blazer as possible.  The night ended true to the surprises of live music with Russell Alexander's Olympia Hippodrome March (1898).  Our fearlesss leader, Bruce Moss, forgot the entire last strain of the march and the band following his lead (well almost all of us!).  So to be true to the composer and fair to our audience we went back and performed the last strain repeat as our true encore. 

Upcoming Events: June 13

 My next concert with the Wheaton Municipal Band will be:

June 13 -  Verdi and Wagner Bicentennial!

Thursday 8 PM

in Memorial Park, Wheaton, IL.Overtures and operatic classics abound on the 200th birthday of these beloved composers. Students from Wheaton High Schools will join the WMB to perform Wagner’s “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” and other favorites.

Upcoming Events

I will be playing with the Wheaton Municipal Band this summer.  Starting next Thursday night at 8PM at the Memorial Park in Wheaton, IL. You can bring a blanket out and watch free music every Thursday night under the night sky! 

Concerts run Thursdays at 8 PM June 6th through August 17th

Upcoming Events

Playing with the Illinois Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra tomorrow.  3 pm concert at Lasalle-Peru Highschool.  And my awesome friend David Lee will be conducting!

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Concert with the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra.  We are featuring the renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine.

Check us out for tix!

Piano

So I am now teaching piano at Mattix Music Studio in Sycamore!  Just wanted to share my lovely Bio and Headshot with you all!

Stepher Eng is a piano, oboe and theater teacher.  She is pursuing a Masters of Music in Oboe Performance at Northern Illinois University. Playing the oboe and piano for over 18 years, she currently plays with the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra and Northern Winds Woodwind Quintet.  She has studied piano with William Koehler and JeongSoo Kim. Stepher also works heavily in the children’s theatre scene in Chicago where she helped found Brain Surgeon Theater; a company that focuses on creating rock musicals with children and professional actors. She has performed with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Classical Symphony Orchestra, and the Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra and the Wheaton Municipal Band.  She believes strongly in music advocacy and education. Stepher approaches her teaching to promote a life in music through appreciation and personal fulfillment. 

Upcoming Events

Hello All!

I have two upcoming events this weekend and coming week. Please join!

Saturday April 20th at 5 PM
NIU Recital Hall in DeKalb, IL

I will be performing Jacques Ibert's  Cinq Pieces en Trio (1935) at Frank Delo's Graduate Clarinet Recital. 
Also watch the Webcast 

 Wednesday April 24th at 8 PM
Boutell Concert Hall, DeKalb, IL
The NIU Philharmonic will be premiering the orchestral world premier of Bitensky's Awake, You Sleepers!  featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's John Hagstrom on solo trumpet.  Also on the concert program Elgar's Enigma Variations  and Dvorak's Carnival Overture.
Also watch the Webcast

Quinteting

Check out my Quintet on youtube

Milhaud - La Cheminée du Roi René

Milhaud VII